Venture Brothers Finale
Goodnight sweet prince….ah poor 24. What an ending. In fact this third season of the Venture Brothers has really surprised. The toilet humour and grotesques are still present, but the writers went about deconstructing everything we knew about the show and answered some lingering questions that had been hanging over the plot. Like the connection between Quizkid Billy and Phantom Limb? Why was Jonas Venture’s bodyguard a mute? Have Hank and Dean already forgotten about the ‘clone army’? And Sergeant Hatred….he’s a paedophile right?
This has been described as a truly ‘adult’, cartoon. It is – in the best way. These are cartoon characters that grew up, their animation shredded and scratchy after the long years of reruns and cheap video copies. The world passed them by and they’re still stuck in an era of fictional Cold War superscience; monologuing villains; and a general disillusionment with sex and love.
Also Hunter S. Thompson has tits in this universe. Which is weirdly brilliant, having a maniac with stubble and a cigarette holder ranting about conspiracies while wearing a g-string!
The greatest success of this season, however, was giving Brock Samson a soul. Who knew? A ‘Swedish murdermachine’ who dearly loves the Venture Brothers and wants to protect them from a life they’ve been thrust into by their uncaring father, all the while knowing that his mission ‘Rusty’s Blanket’, is considered a punishment assignment by his superiors. Patrick Warburton does fantastic work as Samson with each episode, hopefully in time excorcising the soul of Puddy which has dogged his career since Seinfeld.
It’s also the little things about this show I love. The friendship of 21 and 24 has been a highlight. A recurring joke this season was their inexplicable ability to survive almost anything – until the end.
Anyway my tribute to 21 and 24
Tags: 21 and 24 henchmen, Doc Hammer, Patrick Warburton, Phantom Limb, The Monarch, the venture brothers